Symposium February 6-8, 2014

The Charge  What areas of research are most useful for large- scale efforts to improve education in geography?  What strategies and methodologies will maximize the cumulative impact of research in geography education?

Recommendation 1 The Committee recommends that geography education researchers engage in systematic efforts to identify learning progressions in geography both within and across grade bands (e.g., K–4, 5-8, 9-12). Focus on Geography for Life (2 nd Edition)

NSF Award DRL : Building capacity for learning progressions research in geography PIs: Solem, Huynh, Boehm Objective: Geographers and education researchers will receive training on how to conduct, develop, and validate learning progressions and assessments based on Standard 1 of Geography for Life: National Geography Standards (2nd Edition), which reads: How to use maps and other geographic representations, geospatial technologies, and spatial thinking to understand and communicate information. Activities: 1. Symposium involving geographers and learning progressions experts 2. Inventory and prospect study 3. Researcher-training workshop 4. Preparing infrastructure for a large-scale research program

I. Symposium: Through a collaborative process involving geographers and learning progressions experts, the symposium aims to reach consensus on a research design and methodology for developing and testing a set of hypothetical learning progressions based on Geography for Life: National Geography Standard 1.

II. Inventory and Prospect Study: To determine the range of scholars doing research that is relevant for understanding learning progressions in geography.

III. Researcher-training workshop: To prepare graduate students and early career scholars to develop, test, and refine learning progressions based on Geography Standard 1 (i.e., to implement the research design/methodology developed by the symposium). The training will be supported by a handbook published as an outcome of the symposium.

IV. Preparations for National Research: To create the infrastructure for coordinating, collecting, synthesizing and disseminating the work of the trained researchers at different locations.

Road Map GERC Recommendation: The Committee recommends the creation or designation of an institution to coordinate the implementation, dissemination, and knowledge transfer of research results.

NATIONAL CENTER FOR RESEARCH IN GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION Mission: The National Center for Research in Geography Education (NCRGE) will be a research consortium committed to the advancement of basic and applied research in geography education at all levels, spanning pre-K through 12, undergraduate education, graduate education, and the professional workforce. The center will be a national service-oriented organization dedicated to the coordination, implementation, dissemination, and knowledge transfer of research in geography education. NCRGE will also seek to develop international collaborations and networks in support of research projects that further advance the Center’s mission.

What comes next … Follow-up proposal to NSF’s ECR program: Core research proposal (5 years/$1.5 million) Next deadline is February 3, 2015 (annually thereafter)